Theftie app gives device theft security for free

A lost smartphone – whether by theft or by a more benign misplacing – is always a problem for handheld device users. That is why there are a lot of security/locate-my-phone apps out there in the market. The issue is in finding one that is intuitive and smart as it is practical for the user. The “Theftie – Find My Phone” app is not the perfect handset security app, but it has potential, and it is free to download.

The term “theftie” is of course derived from the ubiquitous millennial term for the self-photograph – the selfie – only it presumably takes a picture of the “thief” who stole your phone. This is one of the many features of the Theftie app – that you can remotely secure your handset with the app's security features, even silently take a photo from your phone’s front-facing camera, so that you have an idea what the intruder looks like and can use it for police matters.

Among the many features of this robust free app is the capability to turn on features of your phone remotely that would help you secure your data and locate your phone. You can turn on the GPS and wireless data features of your lost phone and either locate it through maps via a web browser portal or have it upload sensitive data from your phone to your Google Drive. At the very extreme, you can remotely wipe your phone and microSD card of all data, and at its most benign, you can have your phone ring ridiculously loud so you can locate it if you’ve just misplaced it.

As we said, the Theftie app is worth checking out, seeing as it is free and is ridiculously robust for a free app. Comparing it to an already established player like the Lookout security app – where new users need to pay for the security service – Theftie can be a very viable alternative. But since the app is free and is still in development, there will possibly be some bugs. You might want to go through the official XDA developer thread to sort out some kinks in the program. Otherwise, it is a genuine option for phone security. Download it at the source link.